American Independence Museum faces closure

Saturday

Nov 3, 2012 at 1:42 PMNov 3, 2012 at 1:48 PM

EXETER — The American Independence Museum has laid off its entire staff, canceled its fall programming and faces an uncertain future as its board of governors works to put together a new strategic and operational plan.

Aaron Sanborn

EXETER — The American Independence Museum has laid off its entire staff, canceled its fall programming and faces an uncertain future as its board of governors works to put together a new strategic and operational plan.

The elimination of the museum's four staff positions coincides with its customary seasonal closure from Nov. 1 to mid-April and while the board of governors said it hopes to reopen next spring, it's not in a position to make that guarantee, citing ongoing financial difficulties.

“For the last two years we've been running at a deficit and while we have a wonderful group of donors and sponsors, we need to find a way to diversify our revenues and that's going to be a part of our transition plan,” said Allison Field, secretary of the board of governors.

The museum runs as non-profit with an annual budget of around $200,000, that comes from mostly sponsors and donors.

“It's our full intention to re-open stronger and healthier financially and continue all the wonderful work of the museum,” Field said.

Opened to the public in 1991, the American Independence Museum includes the 1721 Ladd-Gilman House, a National Landmark property, and the Folsom Tavern, built in 1775. The museum's permanent collection of documents chronicling the nation's founding includes an original Dunlap Broadside of the Declaration of Independence and early drafts of the U.S. Constitution.

According to museum officials, the board of governors this offseason will focus on three operational strategies: a comprehensive review of programming; the launch of an initiative to recruit local community leaders onto the board of governors; and a review of operating expenses and necessary staffing levels.

Field said the decision to cut staff and restructure was made to avoid a more dire financial situation, such as bankruptcy.

“We didn't want to let it get to that point,” she said. “We had a responsibility to act.”

The eliminated staff positions include executive director, marketing and development director, curator and programs and visitor services.

Eric MacDonald, vice president of the museum's board of governors, said the museum would consider bringing back staff if it could but it's unknown what type of staffing model the board will come up with.

“We can't make a commitment,” MacDonald said. He declined to comment when asked about severance for the affected individuals.

MacDonald said over the next few months there will a lot of discussions about the museum's business structure, its programing and staff. He said the museum was not going to meet its budget this year under the current structure.

“This was a difficult decision and we're sad to make it, but the responsibility of the board is to sometimes make hard decisions to strengthen the organization over the long-term. We hope in the long-term the museum can continue to survive and thrive.”

He said there will be an effort in coming months to engage the community more in the future of the museum.

“We need to see what type of museum this is going to be moving forward,” he said.

MacDonald said the museum is still taking donations that will be applied toward efforts to preserve the museum's collection and formulate a plan to reopen. The museum has a couple dozen corporate sponsors and hundreds of individual donors, he said, adding donors and sponsors are being notified about the situation.

The Society of the Cincinnati, the museum's largest donor and the organization to which the museum reports, is aware of the situation and is being supportive, MacDonald said.

“We worked with them to make the decision and they support it in order to make sure we're a financially health organization,” he said.

MacDonald said the board hopes to continue the annual American Independence Festival, a staple in the community each July for more than 20 years.

“We're very aware of the impact of the event and how important it is to the community,” he said. “We're going to do everything we can to make events like that happen.”

A local property manager was retained to maintain the museum's historic Ladd-Gilman House, Folsom Tavern, and grounds throughout the off-season.

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